Donald Trump and Elon Musk are coming for you. They are coming to take away your freedom, your privacy, your personal information, and they will wreck your peace of mind if they haven’t done that already. Trump and Musk are engaging in a hostile take over of our government. Their goal is to make us think this is a good thing while they are busy stealing our money. It’s an armed robbery in plain sight.
Here was Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address:
“[T]hat these dead shall not have died in vain– that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth” (U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863)
This is Elon Musk and Trump’s version:
“This nation shall have a new system of Government of the bullies, by the bullies, for the Billionaires.”
A lot of Americans are getting upset about what Musk and Trump are doing. Americans are beginning to figure out what these guys are up to. Trump’s approval ratings are falling.
Trump’s approval ratings this week in polls — including the Post-Ipsos poll and others from Reuters, Quinnipiac University, CNN and Gallup — have ranged from 44 percent to 47 percent. In all of them, more disapprove than approve of him.
That’s a reversal from the vast majority of previous polls, which showed Trump in net-positive territory. [Washington Post]
There is also a resistance movement forming. Some of Trump’s own voters are getting canceled by Musk and his DOGE boys. People are starting to get it that Trump is blowing up our government to get the rich guys club in power instead of thoughtfully paring government back to save money.
BUYER’S REMORSE
Last June, the popular UFC fighter Sean Strickland surprised onlookers when, immediately following a victory, he ducked into the audience and took a photo with a bystander: Donald Trump. “President Trump, you’re the man, bro,” Strickland declared in his post-match interview with Joe Rogan. “It is a damn travesty what they’re doing to you. I’ll be donating to you, my man. Let’s get it done.” Video of the moment rocketed across social media, serving as an early indicator of Trump’s enduring strength with his base, despite his recent felony convictions.
Strickland went viral last week for a very different reason: opposition to the president and his plan to take over Gaza. “Man if Trump keeps this bs up I’m about to start waving a Palestinian flag,” the fighter posted on X. “American cities are shitholes and you wanna go spend billions on this dumpster fire. Did we make a mistake?! This ain’t America first.” Strickland’s lament racked up 159,000 likes and 13.2 million views.
Strickland is far from the only one expressing buyer’s remorse. A month after Trump’s inauguration, the honeymoon is over; some of his backers are waking up next to the man they voted for and wondering if they’ve made a terrible mistake. With every policy he implements and offhand remark he makes, Trump is falsifying the imaginary versions of himself that inspired many of his supporters.
On Monday, Zachary Levi, one of the few Hollywood celebrities who openly endorsed Trump, went on Fox to plead for the “truly good, working people that work for the government that are getting lost in the cracks” amid Musk’s purge of the civil service. And after Trump’s administration banned the Associated Press from the White House briefing room for refusing to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, the heterodox Spectator columnist Bridget Phetasy had enough. “I voted against compelled speech,” she wrote on X. “You can’t just rename a body of water and demand everyone go along with it and call us liars if we don’t. Nope. Miss me with that shit.” Her post garnered 10,000 likes and 1.4 million views. [Yair Rosenberg – The Atlantic Feb 20, 2025]
THE DAMAGE IS HUGE AND IS STARTING TO BE FELT
This iteration of Trump is doing a heap more damage because he doesn’t have any “minders” talking him out of his worst instincts. He says he and Musk are cleaning up the deep state and making government work better for Americans. That’s a crock. They are cleaning out federal government workers to get themselves nothing but yes men who will not STOP THE STEAL OF YOUR MONEY.
More Republicans seem to be figuring out that Donald Trump betrayed them. We are beginning to see the fall out in local town hall meetings where Republican representatives are getting an earful.
In … congressional districts around the country over the past week, Republican lawmakers returning home for their first congressional recess since Mr. Trump was sworn in faced similar confrontations with their constituents. In Georgia, Representative Rich McCormick struggled to respond as constituents shouted, jeered and booed at his response to questions about Mr. Musk’s access to government data. In Wisconsin, Representative Scott Fitzgerald was asked to defend the administration’s budget proposals as voters demanded to know whether cuts to essential services were coming.
Many of the most vocal complaints came from participants who identified themselves as Democrats, but a number of questions pressing Mr. Sessions and others around the country came from Republican voters. During a telephone town hall with Representative Stephanie Bice in Oklahoma, a man who identified himself as a Republican and retired U.S. Army officer voiced frustration over potential cuts to veterans benefits. [NYT]
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
For anyone who HAS already figured this out, the question is- What can be done now? Now that Trump is in power and the richest man on earth is running around with a chain saw at CPAC trying to turn himself into an unforgettable meme.
We can call our lawmakers. Sure. Some of us are doing that. But that hasn’t worked to change much of anything yet. The Dems are out of power and the Republicans are spineless. There’s another reason it hasn’t worked yet. Too many lawmakers were elected because they are statesmanlike people by nature. They are the kinds of people who get along with others. That’s their personality. They don’t like to rock the boat.
But this a coup, a hostile take over of our government, and what we need now are FIGHTERS, ACTIVISTS AND LEADERS who will rock the boat and will show up and not only speak out but act out as well.
GOVERNOR JB PRITZKER KNOCKS IT OUT OF THE PARK
OK. Some of our politicians ARE stepping up: Governor Pritzker delivered a speech in which he said the truth about what’s happening in our country without being coy about it.
Here are some excerpts:
“it’s in fashion at the federal level right now to just indiscriminately slash school funding, healthcare coverage, support for farmers, and veterans’ services. They say they’re doing it to eliminate inefficiencies. But only an idiot would think we should eliminate emergency response in a natural disaster, education and healthcare for disabled children, gang crime investigations, clean air and water programs, monitoring of nursing home abuse, nuclear reactor regulation, and cancer research.”
I do not invoke the specter of Nazis lightly. But I know the history intimately — and have spent
more time than probably anyone in this room with people who survived the Holocaust. Here’s
what I’ve learned – the root that tears apart your house’s foundation begins as a seed – a seed
of distrust and hate and blame.
The seed that grew into a dictatorship in Europe a lifetime ago didn’t arrive overnight. It started
with everyday Germans mad about inflation and looking for someone to blame.
I’m watching with a foreboding dread what is happening in our country right now. A president
who watches a plane go down in the Potomac – and suggests — without facts or findings —
that a diversity hire is responsible for the crash. Or the Missouri Attorney General who just sued
Starbucks – arguing that consumers pay higher prices for their coffee because the baristas are
too “female” and “nonwhite.” The authoritarian playbook is laid bare here: They point to a
group of people who don’t look like you and tell you to blame them for your problems.
I just have one question: What comes next? After we’ve discriminated against, deported or
disparaged all the immigrants and the gay and lesbian and transgender people, the
developmentally disabled, the women and the minorities – once we’ve ostracized our neighbors
and betrayed our friends – After that, when the problems we started with are still there staring
us in the face – what comes next?
All the atrocities of human history lurk in the answer to that question. And if we don’t want to
repeat history – then for God’s sake in this moment we better be strong enough to learn from it.
I swore the following oath on Abraham Lincoln’s bible: “I do solemnly swear that I will support
the constitution of the United States, and the constitution of the state of Illinois, and that I will
faithfully discharge the duties of the office of Governor …. according to the best of my ability.”
My oath is to the Constitution of our state and of our country. We don’t have kings in America –
and I don’t intend to bend the knee to one. I am not speaking up in service to my ambitions —
but in deference to my obligations.
If you think I’m overreacting and sounding the alarm too soon, consider this:
It took the Nazis one month, three weeks, two days, eight hours and 40 minutes to dismantle a
constitutional republic. All I’m saying is when the five-alarm fire starts to burn, every good
person better be ready to man a post with a bucket of water if you want to stop it from raging
out of control.
Tyranny requires your fear and your silence and your compliance. Democracy requires your
courage. So gather your justice and humanity, Illinois, and do not let the “tragic spirit of
despair” overcome us when our country needs us the most.
Gov. Pritzker is not the only one speaking out. There are other politicians standing up too: Chris Murphy, Hakeem Jeffries, AOC, Jasmine Crockett, Elizabeth Warren, and Jamie Raskin.
BERNIE SANDERS HAS GONE ON THE ROAD TO START A GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT
Thousands of people in the Midwest have been showing up for Rep. Bernie Sanders’ “National Tour to Fight Oligarchy.” He told folks in Iowa City, Iowa, “Trumpism will not be defeated by politicians inside the D.C. Beltway…”It will only be defeated by millions of Americans in Iowa, in Vermont, in Nebraska, in every state in this country, who come together in a strong grassroots movement and say no to oligarchy, no to authoritarianism.” [Joyce Vance]
THIS IS A 5 ALARM FIRE –WE HAVE TO MAN THE BUCKETS!
When autocracies get kicked out of a country it happens because The People get active and ACT UP, show up and act out in ways that get attention. It is super important that the acting up is peaceful and happy, even joyful, creative, engaging, and funny. Because that is the kind of protest that brings more people in and can be the most successful.
I am a child of the 60’s. Peaceful protest was something we just DID because the war in Viet Nam could kill your closest friends who were getting drafted against their will. We need to do it again today. And it’s more fun if you protest with friends, so bring along some buddies.
Indivisible is active and you could join the local chapter of that group and show up with those neighbors. But even without Indivisible, anyone who is worried and concerned can do this.
Show up at your local townhall and city council meetings or on the steps of your state house… and do what? Speak up. Participate. Bring signs. Talk with neighbors and encourage them to go with you to the meetings if they are worried about what’s going on. It’s our local governments that will implement fascist directives or refuse to do that. This is a participatory democracy and it’s time to participate.
Make your protest fun. How about a dance party celebrating immigrants with food from around the world? Or a “sing in” like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez did in the 1960s? Get on TikTok with your creative songs poking fun at Trump and Musk. Take videos of a real person who got kicked out of the government. Talk about how it not only messed up that person’s life but how it will soon mess with our lives too because this guy isn’t able to do critical research on bird flu anymore, or make sure airplane travel is safe anymore, or put information on the CDC website about the next pandemic. Share your video on social media. Maybe it’ll go viral.
Get on local TV with your outlandish peaceful protest. Call the local news to let them know you will be having a “die in” on the steps of the office of the local Republican rep to let everyone know he’s playing dead instead of fighting for the people who elected him. Or tell the local news you and 100 other constituents want the evening news to cover the delivery of your gift, a human skeleton, you’re giving your GOP rep because he needs a spine- or you’re giving him a live chicken — because that’s what he is.
Resist. Refuse. Ridicule.
GET ACTIVE AND BE CREATIVE!
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?
Here’s one impactful thing you could do: Share this post on social media so that other people will get active.
More Democratic politicians will stand up to Trump as his approval ratings go down and Americans engage in peaceful protests. More good leaders will emerge as Americans launch a countermovement to this authoritarian takeover.
Note: Special thanks to Anat Shenker-Osorio for your inspirational substack podcast with Anand Giridharadas.